Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
High-A Affiliate
The Official Site of the West Michigan Whitecaps West Michigan Whitecaps

Whitecaps Extinguish Dragons in Sweep

June 17, 2018

COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps saw a dominant performance from highly touted Tigers prospect Matt Manning in an 8-0 shutout and three-game sweep of the Dayton Dragons Sunday at Fifth Third Ballpark.  Detroit's No. 2 prospect blanked the Dragons over seven innings of work in yet another impressive

COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps saw a dominant performance from highly touted Tigers prospect Matt Manning in an 8-0 shutout and three-game sweep of the Dayton Dragons Sunday at Fifth Third Ballpark.  
Detroit's No. 2 prospect blanked the Dragons over seven innings of work in yet another impressive home start, walking only one, scattering three hits and striking out six.  Meanwhile, Dragons starter Packy Naughton had no answer for the Whitecaps offense as Colby Bortles tallied three more RBI's and Jose Azocar accumulated four of the fourteen total hits for the 'Caps. Joey Morgan chipped in with a two-RBI double while Rey Rivera slugged two doubles on the afternoon.
The Whitecaps, who fell behind in the first two games of the series wasted no time in taking a 3-0 lead in the third. The Morgan double and an Azocar triple, his fifth in five games, highlighted the inning.  The 'Caps lead increased to 5-0 as a Bortles RBI double in the fourth plated two runs and Rivera's first double also brought home a run.  Azocar finished the scoring at 8-0 for West Michigan by slapping a two-run single into right field in the seventh inning. Clate Schmidt entered in relief for the 'Caps and tossed two innings of scoreless baseball, striking out two.
Manning's (2-3) win at home continued his mastery of pitching at Fifth Third Ballpark. Manning is now 2-0 at home with an ERA of 1.08. Naughton (3-7) limped through 3.1 innings allowing six runs on eleven hits. The Whitecaps improve to 36-34 to close out the first half of the schedule in the Midwest League and now boast a four-game win streak. The Dragons drop to 31-37 on the campaign and have suffered 17 defeats in their last 23 games.
TRIPLE THREAT 
Jose Azocar's triple in the third inning marks the fifth straight game he has done so. He also boasts recording an extra base hit in six consecutive games for the Whitecaps.
UP NEXT 
The Whitecaps begin the second half of the season Thursday against the Fort Wayne TinCaps at 7:05 pm. Pitcher Elvin Rodriguez gets the start for the Whitecaps. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:55 pm. Tickets are available for any Whitecaps 2018 home contest by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or by visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.
Box Score